Off-duty security guard shoots Waffle House robbery suspect

UNION CITY, Ga. -- A man trying to rob a south Fulton County Waffle House was shot by an off-duty security guard grabbing a bite to eat Monday morning.

The incident happened shortly before 2 a.m. at the restaurant on Jonesboro Road just off Interstate 85 in Union City.

Union City Police Det. Gloria Hodgson said the suspect, 21-year-old Ashton MacAfee, was armed with a silver pistol when he entered the Waffle House and demanded money.

In the filed police report, investigators said that off-duty Atlanta police officer Jonathan Sutton and off-duty security guard Chad Pollard were sitting at the restaurant counter near the cash register.

Family members told 11Alive's Duffie Dixon the two have been close friends since childhood and often would meet at that Waffle House.

According to police, Sutton said that when MacAfee pointed his gun at him, he was unable to draw his service weapon. Sutton said Pollard pulled his gun and fired two shots at MacAfee, wounding him. They then put MacAfee in handcuffs.

When police arrived, officers said they found MacAfee handcuffed and lying on the floor just inside the restaurant door, bleeding profusely.

MacAfee was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta for treatment.